Chrono Trigger (Super Nintendo) Review

Squaresoft, most famous for its Final Fantasy products, teamed up with members of the Dragon Quest and Dragon Ball Z games to bring about one of the most critically- and fan-acclaimed games of all-time. But, unfortunately as was the case with many RPGs at the time, the European market was not deemed interested enough in role-playings titles to translate Chrono Trigger for the PAL territories.

The story centres around a teenage boy by the name of Crono, who becomes embroiled in an adventure to save the world from a dreaded foe, Lavos, a being that has already destroyed the planet in the future, 1999 A.D. This leads to Crono needing to travel through time, meeting many new friends along the way, ultimately in the hope of unravelling the meaning of why he was sent there, how it connects with Lavos and how he can save the future of mankind.

Whilst slightly contrived, the plot becomes completely enrapturing once the game begins and the writers commence their magical work on you...

Crisp and clean, the fundamentals of the game work as well as other Squaresoft SNES games, such as Final Fantasy VI (or 'III' as known in the US). What does this mean? It means that Chrono Trigger is an example of how the phrase 'simple, but effective' can be used to great result. The backgrounds are beautiful and the characters fit in well with them. The piece de resistance, though, has to be some of the spell effects...There are many PSX RPGs today that still fall well below the standards set by this game. The only reason for this not gaining that elusive '10' is because I've had the pleasure of playing SNES RPGs that actually have even better graphics.

The best way to judge a game's music quality is to see if any of the tunes stay lodged in you head. Four years after I first laid my hands on the game I still fondly recall some of the in-game music, especially Frog's and Robo's themes. Stirring, emotional and at times simply uplifting.

You are able to have a maximum party of three in Chrono Trigger, all of which have many different techniques that can be accessed. The majority of the characters that join you can eventually gain magic abilities, but even those that can't make up for this loss with the impact of their other 'techs'. When battling, you can simply choose separate commands for each character and hope for the best...but in larger fights you will definitely need to use the technique combinations that are sometimes available.

In some instances two different characters can join up in a round to heal or cause devastation on the enemy, and if you choose the correct team to fight with, the excellent option of all three team members tapping into one of the many ultra-special combos opens up.

The main problem with the game would most likely have to lie with its longevity. It is not as short as some reviews will have you think, but it is in the same breath not a title of epic proportions, partially due to its difficulty level being slightly below average. This is countered somewhat by the addition of the thirteen multiple endings and the New Game + feature. This allows you to start a new game with the same Levels and Equipment from the completed save game file, and makes obtaining different endings less of a chore.

Cubed3 Rating

9/10

Exceptional - Gold Award

One of the best SNES RPGs released, and maybe even one of the finest RPG creations of all-time. It's just a crying shame that us Europeans missed out on not only the SNES version, but the PSX port as well! If Squaresoft and Brownie Brown are at a loose end on completion of the Seiken Densetsu remake on the GBA, I certainly know in which direction I'd point them...Oh, and we always have the hope that Chrono Break on the GBA is not simply a rumour!

Yep, if there were screens of the Chrono Resurrection project, that was a cancelled projet for the PC, XBOX and GameCube, back in those days (how it would have run on the two latter, I wonder, unless the console had to be modded or something)